MITIGATION OF HAZARDOUS COMETS AND ASTEROIDS
It is known that large asteroids and comets can collide with the Earth with severe consequences. Although the chances of a collision in a person’s lifetime are small, collisions are a random process and could occur at any time. This book collects the latest thoughts and ideas of scientists concerned with mitigating the threat of hazardous asteroids and comets. It reviews current knowledge of the population of potential colliders, including their numbers, locations, orbits, and how warning times might be improved. The structural properties and composition of their interi- ors and surfaces are reviewed, and their orbital response to the application of pulses of energy is discussed. Difficulties of operating in space near, or on the surface of, very low mass objects are examined. The book concludes with a discussion of the problems faced in communicating the nature of the impact hazard to the public.
Michael Belton is Emeritus Astronomer at the National Optical Astronomy Observatory, Tucson, Arizona, and President of Belton Space Exploration Initia- tives, LLC.
Thomas Morgan is a Discipline Scientist in the Office of Space Science at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Washington, District of Columbia.
Nalin Samarasinha is an Assistant Scientist at the National Optical Astron- omy Observatory, Tucson, Arizona.
Donald Yeomans manages NASA’s Near-Earth Object Program Office and JPL’s Solar System Dynamics group at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory of the Cali- fornia Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California.
MITIGATION OF HAZARDOUS COMETS AND ASTEROIDS
edited by
MICHAEL J. S. BELTON Belton Space Exploration Initiatives, LLC
THOMAS H. MORGAN National Aeronautics and Space Administration
NALIN H. SAMARASINHA National Optical Astronomy Observatory
DONALD K. YEOMANS JetPropulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology published by the press syndicate of the university of cambridge The Pitt Building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge, United Kingdom cambridge university press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge, CB2 2RU, UK 40 West 20th Street, New York, NY 10011–4211, USA 477 Williamstown Road, Port Melbourne, VIC 3207, Australia Ruiz de Alarc´on13, 28014 Madrid, Spain Dock House, The Waterfront, Cape Town 8001, South Africa http://www.cambridge.org